CfP: ANTS 2014 -- Ninth International Conference on Swarm Intelligence

[Marco Dorigo]

    ***  Apologies if you have received this CFP more than once  ***

                  ANTS 2014
           Ninth International Conference on
              Swarm Intelligence

           September 10-12, 2014. Brussels, Belgium


         Call for papers prepared on January 21, 2014
          More details and up-to-date information at
           http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2014



Scope of the Conference
=======================

  Swarm intelligence is a relatively new discipline that deals with
  the study of self-organizing processes both in nature and in
  artificial systems. Researchers in ethology and animal behavior have
  proposed many models to explain interesting aspects of social insect
  behavior such as self-organization and shape-formation. Recently,
  algorithms and methods inspired by these models have been proposed
  to solve difficult problems in many domains.

  An example of a particularly successful research direction in swarm
  intelligence is ant colony optimization, the main focus of which is
  on discrete optimization problems. Ant colony optimization has been
  applied successfully to a large number of difficult discrete
  optimization problems including the traveling salesman problem, the
  quadratic assignment problem, scheduling, vehicle routing, etc., as
  well as to routing in telecommunication networks. Another
  interesting approach is that of particle swarm optimization, that
  focuses on continuous optimization problems. Here too, a number of
  successful applications can be found in the recent literature. Swarm
  robotics is another relevant field. Here, the focus is on applying
  swarm intelligence techniques to the control of large groups of
  cooperating autonomous robots.

  ANTS 2014 will give researchers in swarm intelligence the
  opportunity to meet, to present their latest research, and to
  discuss current developments and applications.

  The three-day conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on
  September 10-12, 2014.


Relevant Research Areas
=======================

  ANTS 2014 solicits contributions dealing with any aspect of swarm
  intelligence. Typical, but not exclusive, topics of interest are:

    + Behavioral models of social insects or other animal societies
      that can stimulate new algorithmic approaches.

    + Empirical and theoretical research in swarm intelligence.

    + Application of swarm intelligence methods, such as ant colony
      optimization or particle swarm optimization, to real-world
      problems.

    + Theoretical and experimental research in swarm robotics systems.


Publication Details
===================

  Accepted papers will be published in Springer's LNCS series.

  The journal Swarm Intelligence will publish a special issue
  dedicated to ANTS 2014 that will contain extended versions of the
  best research works presented at the conference. Further details
  will be published on the web site.


Submission Instructions
=======================

  Submitted papers must be between 8 and 12 pages long, written in
  English, typeset in LaTeX, and formatted in the LNCS Springer style.
  Detailed submission instructions are available on the conference
  web site. Papers should be submitted using ConfTool:
  https://www.conftool.net/ants2014/


Invited speakers
================

  Prof. Simon Garnier, New Jersey Institute of Technology & Rutgers
  University will deliver the invited speech titled “All roads
  lead to the mound”.
  More invited speakers will be listed on the conference web pages.


Best Paper Award
================

  A best paper award will be presented at the conference. The prize
  winner will receive a certificate signed by the conference
  organizers and a bronze sculpture of an ant expressly created for
  the ANTS conference by the Italian sculptor Matteo Pugliese ---
  http://www.matteopugliese.com


Social program
==============

  Attendees will be invited to join the organising committee at a
  dinner offered by the host lab.


Further Information
===================

  Up-to-date information will be published on the web site
  http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2014/. For information about local
  arrangements, registration forms, etc., please refer to the
  above-mentioned web site or contact the local organizers at the
  address below.



Conference Address
==================

  ANTS 2014
  IRIDIA, CP 194/6                 Tel +32-2-6502729
  Université Libre de Bruxelles    Fax +32-2-6502715
  Av. F. D. Roosevelt 50           http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2014
  1050 Bruxelles, Belgium          email: an...@iridia.ulb.ac.be



Important Dates
===============

  Submission deadline                March  2, 2014
  Notification of acceptance         April 30, 2014
  Camera ready copy                    May 14, 2014
  Conference                  September 10-12, 2014



ANTS 2014 Conference Committee
============================

  General Chair:
    Marco Dorigo
      IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

  Technical Program Chairs:
    Simon Garnier
      New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, NJ, USA
    Marco A. Montes De Oca
      Dept of Mathematical Sciences, University of Delaware, DE, USA
    Christine Solnon
      LIRIS, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, France

  Publication Chair:
    Heiko Hamann
      Dept of Computer Science, University of Paderborn, Germany

  Organization Chairs:
    Mauro Birattari
      IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
    Thomas Stützle
      IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

  Local Arrangements:
    Andreagiovanni Reina
      IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
    Lorenzo Garattoni
      IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
    Manuele Brambilla
      IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium